


You'll Stay With Me Right?

by TesseractTown



Series: Fairgame Week 2020 [4]
Category: RWBY
Genre: Angst, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Hospitals, Hurt/Comfort, Implied/Referenced Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, M/M, Panic Attacks
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-20
Updated: 2020-03-20
Packaged: 2021-03-01 01:00:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,540
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23226712
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TesseractTown/pseuds/TesseractTown
Summary: This one is just sad#1  on the timeline
Relationships: Qrow Branwen/Clover Ebi
Series: Fairgame Week 2020 [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1666057
Comments: 3
Kudos: 32





	You'll Stay With Me Right?

**Author's Note:**

> This one is just sad
> 
> #1 on the timeline

Clover getting hurt was all my fault. Maybe if I saw Tyrian, maybe if I just let him arrest me, none of this would've happened. I wouldn’t be sitting here in a very white, cold, hospital room. Clover wouldn’t be about dead, he would be up and going, just being himself. Would he even want me after this?

I stand up and walk over to Clover, who is laying on his back, hooked up to many IV’s that pierce his skin in his arms. I look down at his face and see how peaceful he looks, he’s so still, if it wasn’t for the shifting of his body as he breathes, you wouldn’t realize he is alive. I pull the flask from my pocket and take a swig. Would Clover want me to do this? I look down at my flask and take another drink before putting it back into my pocket and sitting down at the edge of the bed and hold his hand as I gaze onto his closed eyes, onto his chest, the stab wound, it will always be there. To remind me of my failure, and to remind him of me. What will he think when he thinks of me? Rage, disappointment, my failure to protect him?

The doctor walks into the room and shuts the door as she starts to look at all his vitals before turning to me, “You really should go get some proper rest.”

I shake my head, “I won’t leave his side, not for a minute, this is all my fault, I know I can’t fix it, but I want to help.”

The doctor shakes her head and walks and stands in front of me, “This isn’t your fault, he would want you to take care of yourself, for everyone who cares about you, he might not be here to tell you right now, but he does care for you.”

The doctor stands up and walks out as I go back to staring at Clover. I walk back over to the cold, hard couch. I sit at the edge and wrap myself up into a ball as the tears start to stream down my face, is what she said true? How could anyone care for me after what I caused? He’s hurt because of me, he could have died, I could have killed him. 

Maybe I should be with my nieces, be apart of their lives right now, instead of sitting here being a miserable mess, but I can’t bring myself to leave Clover. People come and go, they all give me the same disappointed look. Disappointed in me. I told them everything would go wrong. Imagine if they hadn’t gotten there in time, Clover wouldn’t even be here. Even now, we don’t know if he’ll wake up. If he doesn’t wake up.. I don’t know what I’ll do. A life without Clover isn’t a life worth living. Even if he wakes up and hates me, doesn’t love me, doesn’t care for me, him being alive is enough.

I love him. Why did it take me so long to realize this? Why does it take something so horrible happening for me to realize such a simple thing? Am I that much stuck in my head to not acknowledge my own feelings? Am I so stubborn to think that no one could love me? The minute I let down my walls, that is the minute everything goes wrong, everything shatters to pieces. I’m here to try to pick up these broken pieces. Try to fix everything, if there is even anything to fix.

I hear the door crack open and see Ruby enter the room, she carries a tray with her. She pulls up a table and sits the tray on it, pulling it up to me, “You should eat Uncle Qrow.”

I shake my head and push the tray away as I look into Ruby’s eyes. She gazes back into mine, the same disappointed look in her eyes, the same disappointed look everyone has in their eyes when they see me. A cross of worry flashes over her eyes before she speaks in a soft tone, “Uncle Qrow, please eat something, for me.”

I sigh as I take a bite of the sandwich she brought me, I look back over to Ruby and she smiles softly as I continue to take a few more bites before setting it down, “Happy?”

Ruby nods, taking what she can get. “Please, Uncle Qrow, this isn’t your fault. You don’t need to beat yourself up over this,” Ruby grabs my hand, “Everything is going to be okay. Clover needs you to be strong.”

I glance over to Clover and get the same deep-pitted feeling in my stomach, “No one knows that Rubes, not even you, don’t give me false hope.”  
Ruby seems to deflate, “Don’t keep doing this to yourself, Qrow.”

I gaze beyond Ruby and back over to Clover and then back at Ruby, not giving her any indication of an answer. Ruby sighs and goes to Clover’s side and kneels down next to his bed, “Hey Clover, please wake up soon okay? We are all waiting for you,” Ruby lowers her voice down to an even softer whisper that I barely can hear, “Qrow needs you, you know Clover. He really does.”

With that Ruby gets up and comes over and gives me a hug, I weakly hug back as I whisper, “Can you stay here a bit longer, Rubes?

Ruby nods slowly as I get up and enter the bathroom, shutting the door behind me. This mirror, will it shatter if I’m around? I look up and look at myself in the mirror, I have bags under my eyes, and I’m sure my face didn’t look like this the last time I’ve looked... It’s gotten smaller. I put a hand to my cheek and run a finger down the tear stains on my face. I turn on the water and splash the water on my face, the cool sensation washing away the tear stains from the previous days. I grab the washcloth and dry my face off as I take one last look in the mirror before I walk out.

Ruby looks relieved as I come back and she stands up and walks over to me, “Will you be okay if I go?”

I slightly nod my head as Ruby wraps her arms around my waist, engulfing me into another hug, “Stay safe, Uncle Qrow,” she says as she walks out of the room, shutting the door carefully behind her as if she didn’t want to wake a sleeping beast.

I glance back at the tray, with the half uneaten food on it and my hand goes and touches my face again. If I can’t do it for myself, then I’ll do it for them. I grab the rest of the sandwich and start to take slow, small bites as I stare at the plain, white, hospital wall in front of me.  
Who else needs me? My nieces can protect themselves, Clover can live without me, my own sister wants me dead, the list can go on. Why am I sitting in this hospital room right now eating this sandwich? Is this couch as cold as my heart? Can I do anything for anyone I love and care about, or will I always be such a burden to them, a hazard to be around them? 

I pull out my flask again and start to drink from it again. The bitter taste flowing over my tongue and down my throat. I was doing so well, doing it for my girls and everyone who cares about me. I could even say I felt happy, but everything good comes to a screeching halt sometime. Everyone around me probably knew I couldn’t do it, couldn’t drink alcohol. But, here I am, my flask back in my hand, and my eyes empty again.

Why am I even sitting here with Clover? My semblance, it is probably what is keeping him from waking up, maybe if I just left, maybe everything would be okay. He would wake up, and everyone would move on. But what would I do? I look back over at Clover and see his drip is getting low.

I stand up, my legs shaking as I walk over to Clover to call a nurse into the room, my flask clutched into my left hand. Through my stumbling, I trip over a cord and my flask goes clamoring against the floor. My cheekbone hits the cold floor as my eyes stare at my flask that lays a few tiles in front of me.

That’s when it hits me, the beeping, the heart monitor, Clover… I scream as I realize what is happening, he’s flatlining. I scream in agony, pain, my failure. I try to push myself up off the ground as the monitor makes the wicked sound, I fall back down to the ground that seems to be a lake of tears. 

My head feels light, maybe from lack of oxygen from screaming, maybe I’m the one dying, maybe I am dead. I feel my eyes slowly flutter shut as I hear frantic screams coming into the room. I feel my helpless body get rolled onto it’s back, this really is all my fault. If I am dying, at least I got to see Ruby smile one last time.

I open my eyes to the steady beeping of a heart monitor, Clover? Is he alright? Where am I? Where is he?

I look down at my arm and see the same IV’s I remember seeing Clover have in him, what happened?

I lean back into the hospital bed as I just now realize the pounding headache, I hear the door open and my eyes gaze over to the door to see Ruby looking over at me, a small smile on her face.

Ruby smiles softly, “You’re awake.”

I put a hand on my forehead, “How long have I been out for? What happened?”

Ruby’s composure all of a sudden changed as she looks to the ground as tears start to form in her eyes, “You about killed yourself! Through you being malnourished, drinking way too much alcohol, and you went into shock.”

I… about killed myself? The last thing I remember was seeing Clover laying down peacefully in that hospital bed, me telling James I wouldn’t leave his side, that this is all my fault. Clover… it’s all my fault. I look down at my hospital gown and back at Ruby, “How long have I been out?” I repeat softly.

Ruby grabs my hand that is dangling off the bed, “Around two days now. It’s been a disaster Uncle Qrow, having you and Clover both in the hospital.”

A little bit more comes back to me, fragmented pieces of memory. He’s in a coma, they don’t know if he’ll wake up. I sit up and groan loudly, my head is pounding in pain, “I need to go back to Clover. I left him! What if he wakes up and I am not there!”

Ruby looks startled then puts a hand on my shoulder, “Please Uncle Qrow, you need rest, I’ll be back later tonight with Yang, okay?”

I lean back and lay down, nodding my head to Ruby as I shut my eyes. Ruby, seeming satisfied with that response, left the room, shutting the door quietly behind her. After a few moments, I open my eyes. Based on what I am told, I probably do need some sleep, but right now it isn’t about what I want, it’s about what Clover needs.

Atlas hospitals have some pain killers somewhere right? I grab onto the pole that is holding my drop and walk over the cabinets to see if I can find any. I pause and turn to the door, maybe painkillers wouldn’t be the best thing right now. I need to get to Clover. I need to see him, I can’t wait.

I walk over to the door, still using the drip pole for support as I open the door and walk the halls of the hospital, 103.. 103…

I push the door open to Clover’s room and look around and that’s when it all comes back to me, slamming into me like a truck, the heart monitor, flatlining, everything before then. I move to the edge of Clover’s bed as fast as possible as I drop down to my knees and start to cry through my headache. I look up and see my flask sitting on the bedside table next to Clover, instinctively I grab and open it to drink it, realizing there is nothing in it I throw it to the side.

I feel a shifting in the bed, I look up after a moment to see teal eyes gazing down warily at me. I gaze back into them as I reach my left hand to touch his face. Speaking in a soft voice as I don’t want to ruin this dream, “Clover?”

“Qrow? Is that you?” Clover speaks softly back as he shakily reaches out to put a hand on the side of my face.

I nod slowly to Clover as I choke out crying again, “I’m so sorry Clover, I understand if you don’t want me around anymore if you hate me. This is all my fault.”

Clover’s eyes seem to soften as he whispers tenderly, “You think this is all your fault? That is what your pretty little head of yours has been thinking this whole time? Qrow… What happened was far from your fault, you didn’t know.”

I pause as we move our hands, mine laying on top of Clover’s hand, “But I could have done something different, I could have done something to prevent it.”

Clover shakes his head, “I’m here Qrow, I’m alive. None of this was your fault. You being here now is enough.”

I stand up shakily and hug Clover softly while the tears are still running down my face, “I’m so sorry.”

Clover wraps his arms around me softly, “There is nothing to apologize for, Qrow.”

I nod softly and look at Clover, “I never got to tell you this, but, I love you.”

Clover smiles, “I love you too, Qrow. I’m sorry I never got the chance to tell you.”

I shake my head, “Don’t be sorry.”

Clover releases the hug and looks around, “We all make mistakes sometimes, Qrow, but it’s how you deal with those mistakes that matters.”

I move to sit at the edge of the bed as I think about Clover’s words. Everyone does make mistakes, I have made so many mistakes, that I chose to deal with through drinking. I glance at my flask that was thrown to the end of the bed. I look back over at Clover, “you’ll stay with me right?”

Clover smiles and nods, “I’ll stay with you Qrow, I didn’t tell you I loved you just to throw that all away.”

Clover moves his hand to wipe the tears away from my face, “Don’t worry Qrow, I think things will change for the better. For your nieces, for you, and for you and I.”


End file.
